Why Rudy Giuliani won't get the Republican nomination and wouldn't win even if he did

The last syllable of his last name is one of the five major vowels.

A significant part of Republican USA simply will not go for that. Shit, some of them would rather vote for a Democratic Methodist woman than for a Republican Catholic Italian-American.

Giuliani just ain't gonna happen. In a sad ass-backwards way, it's unfortunate, because we'd win in a landslide if he got the nod, and for once we'd be the beneficiary of the other side's prejudices if he did happen to be their candidate.




Disclaimer: I'm half Italian myself, and I would love it someday if we elected a Democratic President of Italian descent (or a Latino, African American, etc, for that matter), just not that flaming asshole Rudy Giuliani.

he's been tops in the national polls from day one, despite the ethnic name. I think 20 or 30 years ago, you might have been right, but Italian-Americans and their names are such a part of the national fabric now that I don't think it will register as a factor.

that it wouldn't be as much of an obstacle for him, but I still think that behind Republican closed doors there lies a great deal of the same ethnic prejudices today as there did 20 or 30 years ago, which IMO will make it near impossible for Giuliani to get the Republican nod.

You do make a good point that he's been on top in all the national polls, though, so maybe prejudices aren't running as rampant as in decades past...hopefully. :)

And let me tell you I think you're right. I'm not going to claim some mantle of being discriminated against or judged or any of that. I'm absolutely a white male who has never been discriminated against or any of that. But I also live in NJ right outside of NYC so it's not exactly novel. But my dad (same last name as me obviously) does a lot of work in the mid west/south and he said there are definitely a lot of comments made about his name, italians in general, etc. Usually it's in the guise of saying something non-derogatory about italians but it's still stuff that one wouldn't point out or say or generalize with regard to any other ethnicity or race.

Good post. I think your dad's experience is indicative of what still holds true in many parts of this country, even in these modern times.

I live in the South and I never hear anyone commenting about Italian or Greek names - either positively or negatively.

I do, however, hear a lot of faux fear when someone mentions a Middle Eastern sounding name.

Mayor LaGuardia and Senator D'Amato are two I can think of right now.